Timber

Destruction of rainforest is not only a tragic loss of utterly irreplaceable biodiversity leading to species extinction on a massive scale, but deforestation contributes a massive 17% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.

There are certification schemes that allow you to be confident timber has come from a sustainable source. The best is FSC.

You can find their logo on bird boxes, sawn timber and kitchen units, and increasingly on loo roll and paperback books. There’s a chain of custody that leads from the final product all the way back to the source, and it even covers things such as the rights of the forest dwellers. Some salesmen made false or exaggerated claims to us- I rumbled them by insisting on the FSC certificate number and then checking the FSC database here.

When buying new wood products or getting quotes from joiners we tried to insist on certified wood. I’ll be honest, persistence was required and exchanges were not always comfortable, and even then we didn’t always succeed.

It’s helpful to know that B&Q has a decent environmental policy and only stocks certified timber.

Bed made from reclaimed pine

When we came to buy a bed I was unable to find one from FSC wood, so in the end I got a joiner in the neighbouring workshop to make us one from reclaimed timber, and it still cost less than a new one made from hardwood that could have come from destroyed tropical rainforest.

I’m delighted that Humber Wood Recycling Project is now in Hull, offering a selection of reclaimed timber at excellent value, and they can deliver.